1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to network switching devices, and in particular to reducing power consumption in network switching devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A network switching device, including a switch and a router, is a critical device in a network system. In recent years there have been remarkable increases in performance and capacity of the network switching device accompanying an increase in data traffic sent through the network and accompanying an increase in size of the network. On the other hand, accompanying the increased performance and the increased capacity there has also been a tendency for increased power consumption in the network switching device as well, and controlling power consumption of the network switching device has become an issue from both the perspective of system operating costs and environmental protection.
Technologies that provide a normal mode and a low-power mode in devices that are connected together through a cable are known.
In the aforementioned related technologies, however, no consideration has been given to saving of power in the network switching device. Typically, means wherein the packet processing capability per unit time is increased through increasing the level of integration/processor clock frequency of the semiconductor integrated circuits included in the device are used in order to increase the performance of the network switching device (for example, the switching capacity). However, the amount of power consumed in the semiconductor integrated circuits increases concomitant with the increase in the level of integration and the operating clock frequency. In conventional network switching devices, low-power consumption has been achieved through designing semiconductor integrated circuits with reduced performance or functionality. However, this approach runs the risk of being unable to fulfill both power-saving requirement and performance requirement.